The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-03-14
WINTHROP MORRILL,.
History OF a Weli-known Maine
Horse.

Lambert. Gen. Knox and Winthrop Morrill,,
| all Of which trace directly In the paternal
line to the stout, hardy little Justin Morgan.
Winthrop Morrilps career appears TO have
been much more eventful than that Of either
Of the others, as will be seen by the follow
| ing facts:
winthrop Morrill, was bay stallion about
Is II hands high, and in fair condition
weighed about 1000 pounds. He had a hand
some head, fine neck, sloping shoulders,
short, strong back, smooth coupling. round
turned hips. muscular quarters. barrel Of
good length, round and well ribbed up. He
was a horse Of elegant carriage, head car
ried high without check, tall, well elevated
and carried straight without incllning to
either side. His feet were narrow, with
high heels and straight walls, such as is gen
orally known as mule shaped, but sound as
bullets. His pasterns were rather short. and
somewhat inclined to cookie behind when
standing in stable. In form, appearance and
most characteristics he bore striking re-
semblanee to the best Of the Morgan family,
but was more blood-like In appearance than
many Of the descendants OF Justin NorgaI
Winthrop Morrill, was taken from Mas
sachusetts TO Maine by Asher Savage, some
time in 1861 or 1862, who sold him for con-
siderably less than 500. During the sum-
mer Of 1862 he got some two or three foals.
After passing through several hands,
and 1t Is claimed doing service upon
pedler's cart, he was bought by Mr.. George
C. Goodale and Mr. Skillings Of Winthrop.
early in 1863. Mr.. j. G. Rounds, before
mentioned, was then engaged in business at
Winthrop. Mr.. Charles G. jackson, now
deceased, was also living in Winthrop at the
time. Mr.. Jackson was a natural horse
man, and Is pronounced by Mr. Rounds one
of the best judges Of trotting stock that he
ever knew. His success in selecting trot-
ter from undeveloped stock, and even suck
ling foals, TO which he was an entire
stranger, was wonderful.
Winthrop was at that time quite a town
for fast horses, and the pond, when frozen
IN winter, was an excellent place TO show
their speed. One day, In the winter Of 1868,
several parties were out on the pond exer-
cising their horses, and among them Mr.
Rounds, Mr.. Jackson, with fast road maze
that had trotted trial in 2.30, and Mr. SkHl,
ings, with Winthrop Morrill,, which vas
then PAGER and looked to be at Leaf 20 |
years old. Mr.. Jackson thought to have a
little sport at Skillings' expense, and banter |
ed him for race. Skillings accepted the
challenge, and they started. Winthrop Nor |
rill paced short distance, then struck q |
square trot and beat the mare 2 ,ong way
in his mouth. and to their surprise found |
him comparatively young horsf. The fol- |
lowing spring Mr.. Goodale TOOK Winthrop
Morrill, to Hortland, and used aim for gen.
eral farm work that summer, returning to
Winthrop with the horse qule thin in flesh
late in the season. That faH Mr.. Skillngs
met Mr.. Leadbettcr at Winthrop, who
then owned the Leadbetter horse, which had
aN.r 49, l. 80
after bantering some inregard to the speed
of his horse, matched Winthrop Morrill,
against Leadbetter's stallion for $40 side,
to troton given piece )f road.
Winthrop Morrill, best his opponent hand
lily. This began to opsn the eyes of horse
men, and Messrs Bale and Bradford Of
Winthrop wanted Skillings TO give the horse
trial on the track The next day Winthrop
Morrill, was sent 9mile on the track to a
skeleton wagon Is 2.4S trotting the last quar-
ter in thirty-sevsn seconds, which, as the \
horse was in 10 condition for fast work,
created considerable excitement and encour-
sged the ownsr to put the price Of him up to |
$1,000. Mr.. POUNDS was in Boston on busi- |
ness at that time, and Mr.. Jackson was also |
there with some horses. When Mr.. Rounds |
reached home he went to the owner OF Win |
thron Marrill 20 b-.v ti.s.- ,-~-x3-ay-sf--t
effected trade paying 0o9 PC cash mention NIT Sae o
making him trotter for track purposes. but
arIer thorough trial gave up that idea. In /
the mean time the colts got In 1862 came |
along and were remarkably promising.
horse, but finding 1t useless to try TO make
track horse OF him, decided to stand him Tor
service, and at the same time put him at
at work on the farm, and found him one OF
the strongest animals that he ever saw. lie
would haul as heavy a load Of hay up hill
as a strong pair OF oxen, and was so doeile
that he would drive him to the village and
leave him unhitched in the streets during
the summer season. His service Zee was 10
TO warrant, and II the foals were not salts
factory Mr.. Jackson would discount fifty per
cent. from the bill.
In 1854 a preacher by the name Of Down
ing bred to him, and the foal proving, as he
termed It, "a little, nasty. inferior PAGER.
forwards this unpromising scion Of Winth-
rop Morrill,, under the name Of Uncle Abe,
won the ESQ race at Buffalo. N. y, August
10, 1871, in straight heats, time, 2.27, 2.303,
2;274, beating field OF nine good ones, In
cluding Kilburn Jim and Thomas l.. Young.
Mr.. John Shepard Of Boston. who then
Owned.him, refused cash offer OF $4,000 on
the spot, and could probably have sold him
for $4,000 had he named that figure.
After Mr.. Jackson gave up trying to make
taken to the track except for exhibition, bus
was worked to road wagon, and could pull
man down the street at terrific gait, close TO
a two-minute clip. Mr.. Rounds moved to
mdlutU, lcdNiIlB lut uuI5c Will MI JdCkoouy
who after a time became discouraged and
wrote Mr.. Rounds to sell him II he could not
get more than $500. Mr.. Rounds proposed
selling him to Mr.. Teal of New Hampshire
and took him down for that purpose. By
the time they reached Winthrop, however
Mr.. Jackson had repented, Jet as the horse,
had been priced they felt compelled TO show
him. Winthrop Morrill, was little cockled
at that time, and his forward tendons were
somewhat thickened from the effect Of carry
ing weights to try and break him to trotting
squarely.
Mr.. Teal acknowledged that he never saw
| q horse go so fast, but thought he detected q
| little lameness, so decided not to buy, much
| to the qualification Of Mr.. Jackson. A few
wears later Mr.. Jackson died, and in the fall
| Of 1871 Mr.. Rounds sold Winthrop Morrill, 10
| the late Mr.. Il. Il. Williams Of Jamaica
/ Plains for $3.50 cash. The price pubiished
/ at the time was $3.50. In 1873, Mr.. Williams
having died. the horse @ vas bought % oy MI, IT, =;
/ located in Boston. The price paid was
shout $500. Mr.. Mills bought him to Inn
| prove the stock in Maine, and sent the horse
to his former owner. George G. Goodale,
| getting abomt 105 foals. A half-interest In
| him was then sold to Mr.. b. +. Fairbanks,
| Winthrop, where Winthrop Morrill, was
taken and kept until his death, which occur
i red in 1888, at which time he was owned
| jointly by Messrs. Mills and Fairbanks.
After returning to Winthrop he got some
| forty foals.
After purchasing the horse Mr.. Williams
/ took pains to visit the locality where he was
| raised, and learned that he was bred by Rod
| ney Bradford, Barre, VT, foaled in 1885, got
| by Perkins Young Morrill,; dam by the
| Huckins horse, second dam by Morgan
Eagle, third dam by Bulrush, fourth dam by
Old Carson, and fifth dam an imported Eng
lish mare. The Huckins Horse was by Royal
Morgan, he by Sherman, son Of Justin Nor
gan, from the Aldrich mare, a daughter Of
Justin Morgan. Royal Morgan was known
in Maine as Morgan Rather, in southern
Vermont as the Crane Horse, in northern
Vermont as the Steele Horse. and was some
times called the Chamberlain Colt. Accord
ing to Linsley's work on Morgan Horses,
the Aldrich mare produced a foal wber
twenty-nine years old, and that author
speaks Of seeing Royal Morgan, thirty-hv,
years old, turned loose in yard with lol
of colts, trotting as easily as the youngsters.
Perkins Young Morrill, was by Old Nor
rill dam, an inbred Morgan, being by the
Lock Goss Horse, son Of Sherman Morgan
from daughter Of Bulrush, by Justin Nor
gan. The Old Morrill,, sire Of Perkips
Young Morrill,, Is registered as BY the Jen'
nison horse, by Young Bulrush Morgan, BY
Bulrush Morgan, making Winthrop Morril
one one Of the strongest inbred Morgans O.
his generation. A business man In Boston
claims to know positively that Old Morril
| was by the Webster horse, which was by q
1 . /. a